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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043161">Like a Lantern Shining in the Dark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/pseuds/rubylily'>rubylily</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bittersweet, Gen, Magical Girls, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:47:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,483</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30043161</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/pseuds/rubylily</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If she could defeat one wraith, then at least one person's hope was saved.  Thus as long as there were wraiths to battle, she couldn't regret becoming a magical girl.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Worldbuilding Exchange 2021</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Like a Lantern Shining in the Dark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mireia/gifts">Mireia</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once upon a time, there was a girl who made a wish and became hope.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The Law of Cycles.  It was a common enough phrase among magical girls, although no one knew its origins, not even the Incubators.  When a magical girl's Soul Gem grew dark, salvation would come for them, whether that girl had made a contact only months ago or years ago.  It was a rather bittersweet thing for those left behind, but such was the nature of endings.</p>
<p>	She stared at the Soul Gem in her hands.  Maybe the Law of Cycles would come for her soon.  She had become a magical girl decades ago, fighting wraiths all this time.  She knew of many legends passed down among magical girls; once, a young girl with a red ribbon in her dark hair spoke of the Law of Cycles like a goddess who came to magical girls on the brink of despair to save what little hope they still held.  A smile tugged at her lips.  What a pleasant story, much like a fairytale.  Maybe that girl was right.  She had been young, but her violet eyes had seemed to carry the burdens of a hundred lifetimes.</p>
<p>	"Goddess, huh?" she muttered to herself, and her breath was visible against the cold air.  "Well, even us magical girls need deities to pray to, I guess."  She touched her hair, spotting a thread of silver.  Her wish had been simple - to spend one more day with a dear friend who had passed too soon.  She hadn't the potential to wish for anything more.  Her miracle had lasted only a day, and yet she had spent more than half her life fighting wraiths, manifestations of the darkness in all human hearts.</p>
<p>	She took her staff, adorned with a gem whose color she had never been able to place, and walked to the edge of the rooftop of this abandoned building.  How many people had jumped from this very spot?  Maybe that was why the miasma was so thick here.  Wraiths' curses were often linked to unexplained accidents and suicides, after all.  As long as love and happiness existed, so did hate and despair, and wraiths were born from that distortion of hope.</p>
<p>	Her fingers tightened around her worn, trusted staff.  If she could defeat one wraith, then at least one person's hope was saved.  Thus as long as there were wraiths to battle, she couldn't regret becoming a magical girl.</p>
<p>	Magic gathered around her staff like fire, and as she dove into the miasma, she saw a flash of pink wings within the darkness.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Past, present, future.  The concept once known as "Kaname Madoka" held all in her hands.  She was something like a goddess now, guiding lost, tired souls to salvation.  For every magical girl who had existed and for every magical who would exist, she offered her hand.  Some greeted her with smiles and some with tears, but all accepted her promise of hope.</p>
<p>	As the embodiment of the hope of magical girls, she knew each and every wish that had been granted.  Selfish wishes and selfless wishes, small wishes and large wishes; all wishes were precious, and throughout the ages and parallel worlds she had seen how Incubators had twisted those precious wishes.  But it wasn't enough to wish for an end to the Incubators' manipulation - she couldn't bring herself to take away the wishes already granted.  That wasn't her right.  After all, some girls could only find hope and climb out of hell by wishing for a miracle.  So to protect those precious wishes, she came to magical girls on the edge of despair and gave them rest before their wish became a curse.  Many times she had become a witch of salvation, bringing the world to an end, but now she could save even that cursed version of herself.  She didn't need to take away this world's future to being salvation.</p>
<p>	Throughout her endless existence, she followed many magical girls, learning of their hopes and fears.  In Japan, not far from Mitakihara, there was an adult magical girl who had spent decades fighting wraiths.  She had wished to spend one more day with a beloved friend.  Such wishes were common - another Japanese magical girl had wished for one more day with her grandmother.  Magical girls who reached adulthood were rare, but since Kaname Madoka had made her wish and became the Law of Cycles, more and more magical girls lived longer.</p>
<p>	Past, present, future.  The goddess of hope knew all magical girls well, and she spread her wings to greet yet another dear friend.  Her work was endless, but for the sake of all the magical girls she loved, she wouldn't have had it any other way.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sometimes she wondered what her life would've been like if she hadn't become a magical girl, but try as she might, she could never imagine a non-magical life for herself.  Certainly she had a normal life in the daylight, with a handful of relatives and acquaintances she could exchange pleasantries with and she made just enough from her job as a writer to live comfortably.  (And of course, the flexible hours of working from home was a godsend to her magical girl self.)  But she couldn't say she wasn't lonely either.  Even before becoming a magical girl, she hadn't been very good at making friends, and other magical girls generally mistrusted her because of her age.  Not that she could blame them, though.  Young girls desperate enough to pay the price for a miracle had often been mistreated and betrayed by the trusted adults in their lives.  So she often worked alone, and even now she sometimes awoke crying.</p>
<p>	Yet every time she tried to imagine a different life for herself and wondered if she should've refused Kyubey's offer, her answer was always the same: if given the opportunity to do things over, she would make the same wish and become a magical girl.</p>
<p>	The miasma was thick tonight, and she could feel her Soul Gem darkening as she summoned burst after burst of fire to burn away the spawning wraiths.  Maybe the she did have one regret, that she had never managed to befriend another adult magical girl.  Kyubey had repeatedly expressed surprise at her reaching adulthood and fighting wraiths for decades, and while she knew he was incapable of direct malice, those words always felt like he was disappointed in her continued survival, so eventually she had snapped and screamed at him to leave her alone.  She hadn't seen him since that day.  Not that she was surprised; fairies were capricious creatures, after all, and any who manipulated vulnerable young girls into trading their souls for miracles couldn't be trusted.</p>
<p>	She smirked, and her body felt so very cold.  Still, a part of her did sometimes wonder if she should've tried harder to get to know Kyubey, to learn more about him and other Incubators.  Once, she'd believed she had all the time in the world to do so.</p>
<p>	However, even she knew all things must someday come to an end.  Once the wraiths were burned away and those strange black cubes littered the dark alleyway, she slumped to her knees as her trusted staff fell from her hands.  Even if she had the strength left to collect all those cubes, she knew her Soul Gem was finally at its limit.</p>
<p>	Tears prickled at her eyes, but it wasn't fear or despair, not quite.  As she lay upon the cold, hard ground, she tried to remember the people she had saved from wraiths and their curses.  A little girl on her way to school.  An elderly couple visiting the grave of their lost child.  A woman walking along train tracks at night.  A boy trapped in a burning building.  Wraiths were always lurking about, and if not for her, if she hadn't become a magical girl, would she had been able to save any of those people?  Because she was a magical girl, she had saved so many people.  She just had to keep reminding herself of that.</p>
<p>	She stared at the cracking Soul Gem in her hands.  "I did good, didn't I…?" she whispered.</p>
<p>	"Yes, you did," came a gentle voice as gloved hand touched her Soul Gem.  A girl in white knelt beside her, and transparent wings stretched from her back while her pink hair seemed just as endless.</p>
<p>	With a smile, her eyes fell closed, and the warmth of the Law of Cycles embraced her.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Once upon a time, there was a girl who made a wish and became hope.  She created a paradise for all magical girls, and those who took the hand of the goddess left behind legends for the generations of magical girls that followed:  "Don't forget.  Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you.  As long as you remember her, you are not alone."</p>
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